The Canadian government ordered Russian Diplomat Yury Bezler to depart for home on Monday, news sources reported.
According to the Russian Embassy website, Bezler is one of the three defence attachés working at the Embassy in Ottawa. The reasons behind declaring Bezler persona non grata are not clear and the Foreign Affairs Spokesperson refused to comment on the issue on Monday evening. However sources are now saying that the act may have been in retaliation to a Canadian delegate being sent back home two weeks earlier in Moscow.
Earlier the Russian government had requested authorization from Canada for adding a group of diplomats to its Embassy in Canada. They were denied visas by the Canadian government on the grounds that they were not filling the roles that they claimed. This resulted in the Canadian diplomat being asked to return home.
Earlier this week Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird condemned Russia’s intervention in Ukraine strongly and said that if this pattern persisted on Russia’s part then it will continue to face increased isolation from the international community and suffer further serious consequences as a result of its action.
Relations between Canada and Russia became strained this year when Russia intervened in Ukraine. The stringent build up in tension with regards to the diplomats can be accredited to the recent seizure of three Ukranian cities; Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv by pro-Russian protestors.
